* Film and Discussion Ninotchka with commentary by JoAnn DiVerdi

In this romantic-comedy of opposites, Ninotchka (Greta Garbo), a cold, pragmatic comrade from the Soviet Union, arrives in Paris to ensure the sale of jewels seized during the Russian Revolution. There, she encounters a member of the decadent bourgeois, Count Leon d'Algout (Melvyn Douglas). Leon eventually leaves his paramour, the Grand Duchess Swana, original owner of said jewels, for the icy Ninotchka–who seems to be melting under his joie de vivre. Politically, it's a unique moment in time for the United States. She's wary but not yet fearful of the Soviet Union, not yet an ally, not yet a Cold War enemy. Free of all such pressures, and with the enormous talent that came to bear upon its creation, Ninotchka continues to delight.